"Tom Lee, her last beau, why, my goodness! he used to be here day and night, Till the folks thought he'd be her husband; and Jack says that gave him a fright. You won't run away then, as he did? for you're not a rich man, they say. Pa says you're as poor as a church-mouse. Now, are you? and how poor are they? "Ain't you glad that you met me? Well, I am; for I know now your hair isn't red; But what there is left of it's mousy, and not what that naughty Jack said. But there I must go; sister's coming! But I wish I could stay, just to see If she ran up to you, and she kissed you, in the way that she used to kiss Lee." [Illustration] [Illustration] THE GIANT WHO HAD NO HEART. [Illustration] There was once upon a time a king who had seven sons. He loved them all so much that he could never do without them all at once; one had always to be with him. When they were grown up, six of them set out to woo. But the father kept the youngest son at home, and for him the others were to bring back a princess to the palace. The king gave the six the finest clothes you ever set your eyes upon, and you could see the glitter of them a long way off, and each had his own horse, which cost many, many hundred dollars, and so they set out on the journey. After having been to many royal palaces and seen all the princesses there, they came at last to a king who had six daughters; such lovely princesses they had never seen, and so each of them began wooing one of the six sisters, and when they had got them for sweethearts, they set out for home again; but they quite forgot to bring a princess with them for Ash-ie-pat-tle,[1] who was left at home, so busy were they making love to their sweethearts. When they had journeyed a good bit of the way, they passed close to the side of a steep mountain, where there was a giant's castle. As soon as the giant saw them, he came out and turned them all, princes and princesses, into stone. But the king waited and waited for his six sons, but no sons came. He was very sad, and said that he should never be glad again. "Had you not been left to me," he said to Ash-ie-pat-tle, "I should not care to live any longer. I am so sad because I have lost your brothers." "But I have been thinking to ask for leave to set out and find them, I have," said Ash-ie-pat-tle. "No, I cannot let you go," said his father; "I shall lose you as well." But Ash-ie-pat-tle would go, and he begged and prayed till the king gave him leave to go. The king had no other horse to give him but an old jade, for his six brothers and their men had taken all the other horses, but Ash-ie-pat-tle did not mind that; he mounted the shabby old nag. "Good-bye, father," said he to the king, "I shall come back, sure enough, and who knows but I shall have my six brothers with me as well," and off he started.